This consultation by Health Standards Organization (HSO) https://healthstandards.org/ on standards for mental health and addiction services seems, rather important if the weaving of: care system change, organizational accreditation and practice change are in play, NOW.
• Population health, service planning, and design
• Prepared and competent teams
• Access to services
• Client rights and ethical considerations
• Timely, comprehensive, and coordinated services
• Medication and prescribing practices
• Quality improvement …
(image: cover of report stating a draft for review and TM "people powered health")
About the standards
… CAN/HSO 22004:2021(E) Mental Health and Addiction addresses the provision of high-quality and safe mental health and addiction care and services. The standard is applicable to all health and social service organizations providing mental health and/or addiction services.
The standard is intended to be used as a tool to improve the quality, effectiveness and outcomes related to programs and services for people who experience mental health illnesses and addictions. This standard also aims to address barriers to care that people with mental health illnesses and/or addictions often face when trying to access services such as lack of timely, relevant support; stigma; and difficulty navigating multiple intersecting systems and sectors.
The standard follows the client’s health and wellness journey through the health and social service system, including in-patient and community-based settings.
Divided into seven sub-sections, CAN/HSO 22004:2021(E) Mental Health and Addiction will provide criteria and guidelines to assess the quality and safety of health and social service organizations providing mental health and/or addiction services. The sub-sections are:
• Population health, service planning, and design
• Prepared and competent teams
• Access to services
• Client rights and ethical considerations
• Timely, comprehensive, and coordinated services
• Medication and prescribing practices
• Quality improvement …
(image: small group of smiling people)
Go to the Review site here: https://healthstandards.org/public-reviews/
What is HSO?
HSO stands for Health Standards Organization. Formed in February 2017, our goal is to unleash the power and potential of people around the world who share our passion for achieving quality health services for all. We are a registered non-profit headquartered in Ottawa, Canada.
What does that mean?
Our focus is on developing standards, assessment programs and other tools to help care providers do what they do best: save and improve lives. Recognized by the Standards Council of Canada, we are the only Standards Development Organization solely dedicated to health and social services.
Where did HSO come from?
HSO is building on the strength of nearly 60 years of experience by Accreditation Canada, Canada’s leading health care accreditation body.
In 2016, we consulted more than 700 stakeholders across Canada and around the world to understand how best to put our collective learnings to work. Key takeaways from this review included:
Standards development must be separate from conducting assessments in order to be the best-in-class at both
The accreditation process must be more accountable and transparent, with a stronger focus on outcomes and consistency
Standards and assessments need to be easily actionable, clinically relevant, and tailored to local contexts
Patients (and their families), practitioners and policy-makers all play critical roles in improving health globally
Go to their site here: https://healthstandards.org/about/ 
(image: logo of HSO)
by the way... it would be interesting to share here, your thoughts as there is greater power in helping to flush out, and articulate ideas via a dialogue of sorts, building from our perspectives.
Cheers, Bill Dare
